


on a road that leads me straight to who knows where

by decadencethief



Category: Homestuck, Vast Error
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-03-09 01:58:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18907180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/decadencethief/pseuds/decadencethief
Summary: Ellsee needs to do something, for all of them. But she also needs to prove a point to herself.[Spoilers up to Vast Error p. 966]





	on a road that leads me straight to who knows where

I think I’m just going to go through with this for mΣ.

She believes the words when she says them. Still, her foot is heavy as she lifts it up to step through the portal. The energy swirls around her, prickles her skin, warm and cool at the same time, like diving into a lake. She imagines so, at least, if it were a lake which wouldn’t kill you.

For a moment, it’s just her and the lake, the foreign magic washing all over her. She grips her staff tighter.

Then, she opens her eyes and she’s somewhere else.

Her first thought is about how bright it is. Light bounces off bright surfaces, catches on the pavement and reflects back into her eyes. She blinks, confused.

Her second thought— _g_ _oodness, this is so many people._

Everyone stares.

Ellsee tries to swallow, but her mouth is dry, filled with sandpaper. Sweat beads on her forehead just as a shiver crawls up her back.

There weren’t supposed to be people here. _So many of them, a crowd of trolls with symbols in all possible colours—not all, not hers—_ She bites her lip. This is exactly what her guardian always warned her about.

Arcjec told her this place was deserted.

After all of his claims that he didn’t believe her and his doubts when she tried to explain, it was him that lied to her. Betrayal burns through her body for a moment, before it fizzles out. Arcjec didn’t lie. He didn’t know. He doesn’t have more of a clue about what’s happening than her; perhaps even less, really, all things considered.

This is not a trap.

Warmth courses up her arm from the staff, grounding her, dulling the edge of her panic. She isn’t sure if it’s real or just in her head, but it does the trick, so really, she’ll take it.

Ellsee starts speaking. She isn’t sure what she says, she _definitely_ isn’t sure if it’s going to work, but she’s trying, isn’t she? She’s out of her depth, she’s terrified, but she’s still trying.

The guy with the severed hand dangling around his neck is a bit much, honestly.

He looms over her, all bright face paint and menacing grins and _—the hand bobs with the rise and fall of his speech—_ and Ellsee wonders if this is what it feels like before you get lynched by a mob in the middle of a street.

She wonders if Arcjec will get her out if she demands it.

He will. She wants to believe he will, but she also knows it, instinctively. He’s watching her and waiting for her to let him do what he needs to.

She has to prove to him that she can.

She has to prove it to herself.

She springs back, away from the troll with the severed hand, and spreads her arms. _Whimsy!_ It’s clumsy and awkward, but perhaps that’s what does it. The crowd quiets down. Their expressions blur in the flurry of her movements, but she can imagine them, ranging from befuddlement to amusement, maybe even to fascination. Though she’d just take the befuddlement if it keeps her hands from joining the tall troll’s collection.

_Come on, Arcjec._

He does.

There’s a rumble, the ground shakes, Ellsee almost loses her footing from the impact. The pillar is _—_ well, it’s definitely bigger than she expected, and it’s right there, smack dab in the middle of the street. Its bottom end embeds itself in the pavement, and it goes up, so far that she can’t see its other end.

So much for being discreet.

Her job here is done, however, and she slices through the air with her staff, willing another portal into existence. It flares open. She dives into it, just as she would into a lake, twisting in the air to point her staff back at the massive pillar behind her. Another burst of energy rushing between her and the staff, and light pours out of it. It washes over the pillar just in time before Ellsee tumbles through the portal.

She lands on her back. She’s back by her tent, and she blinks up at the familiar canopy of trees and the massive meteor hurtling towards her.

Her heart’s trying to burst out of her chest cavity, but it has little to do with the impending fiery destruction.

She did it! They did it.

She tastes bile on her tongue. She hopes that if she starts retching, Arcjec would have the grace to look away and not give her too much of a hard time about it, ideally. She somehow doubts it.

Ellsee stands up on shaky legs and wobbles into her tent.

She has a record player, an old one, sitting on the floor beside her pillow pile. It only has the one speaker, and the sound could stand to be a little better, but right now, she doesn’t care. She makes a beeline for the device and kneels in front of it. Her ears are still buzzing. There’s a tremble to her fingers as she fumbles with the needle. She gets it right, after three tries, and the tip slips into a groove.

A smile tugs on Ellsee’s lips.

She turns up the volume and stands up.

 


End file.
